Booster 60 Review
My Stats: 5'8, 230ish, size 10 feet. Ive been
paddling for 7 years
General Impressions: The Booster is Awesome. It
is the first Riot boat that I have paddled that is missing that
edgy almost out of control feel that I have become used to. This
is a good thing though, on a wave you can miss a flatspin and
stay on the wave and try again, in my trickster once I miss a
flatspin I typically flip over and do a tripple monkey flip and
drag my head down the rocks that create the river bed. Also,
after exhausting all of the stregnth left in you arms from
throwing 13 ends in the hole you can just sort of cruise into the
eddy without having to edge the boat way over to avoid catching
an edge and getting munched by the eddy trolls. You get the
picture.
Flatwater Performance: I
am very impressed by the Booster. My initial impression was that
the Booster was extremely hard to flatwheel, harder than the
Prankster. After I put in some "Seat time" I realized
that the Booster just flatwheels differently. The
Prankster/Tricksters would slice through the water and if you
halfassed your double pump, the boat would still flatwheel, just
at a more shallow angle. Also once I have thrown a flatwheel in a
Trickster/Prankster I can lean forward and bowstall for as long
as I want. The Booster is a whole new animal, it is corky like
the Disco and doesn't slice through the water. So either you
flatwheel or you don't. Also it is difficult to stall due to this
corkiness. I like this corky nature though...An example: After
throwing the bow down during a wavewheel, I can clean cartwheel
the stern because the corky nature of the bow causes the boat to
bounce and pop up out of the water.
Flatwater: Easier to
Flatwheel than Prankster, harder to flatwheel than
Trickster.....In my opinion almost perfect
Hole Performance: Once
again I was impressed by the Booster. At 230 the Trickster is NOT
retentive. The Booster sticks in a hole like chewing gum sticks
on your shoe. I was able to link 4 ends in a small flushy hole
that normally I can only throw down 1 or 2 ends before flushing.
The Booster is very stable and easy to manuver around so that you
can line up with the sweet spot and go off. It is super stable
and easy to surf. Also the corky/bouncy nature comes into effect.
While I have never intentionally landed any loops; loops are the
new move that I am going to learn in my booster. I noticed from
playing in the hole that if I screwed up my cartwheels and
initiated an ender, the booster just popped up out of the
water...very cool.
Cartwheeling in a hole:
Easier to throw around than Prankster. Harder but more retentive
than Trickster.
Wave Performance: Very
easy to flatspin and spin in the foam pile. The Booster is super
loose, way looser and easier to spin than Prankster/Trickster. I
was able to get clean 360's on demand and shuvits came easily.
The Booster is suprisingly quick on a wave and will fly down the
face of the wave for blunts. I found the Booster to be a little
harder to blunt than the Trickster/Prankster...it's not quite as
fast on the wave.
Wave: Very Loose and
Suprisingly Quick
If you think the Booster
Sounds Good So Far, Playboating isn't even it's strongest point.
River Running: Although I
have only paddled my Booster on Class 3/4 I am very impressed
with it's river-running ability. It is super stable, by far the
most stable playboat that I have ever paddled. As I mentioned
before, it isn't edgy at all, nothing like the Glide, which until
now was the best river-running playboat that I had ever paddled.
It is fast, faster than the Trickster/Prankster. Also there is
plenty of rocker, which makes boofs automatic. I aimed for every
hole and every pourover and never got stuck or flipped the first
time. At first I was a little disappointed with the
rodeo/flatwheel abilities, but I soon realized that not only
could I pull off more moves than I could in the Prankster, but I
could paddle the Booster comfortably down a Class IV/V stream. We
all know that the best holes and waves are found in the midde of
remote Class V canyons..
Better River Runner than
Glide/Trickster/Prankster/Inazone/etc.
Comfort/Outfitting: The
Booster is Sooooooo Comfortable. WOW!! at 60 gallons there is
footroom, legroom, thighroom, buttroom, etc. This is the MOST
comfortable playboat that I have paddled. More comfortable than
the Z and Prankster and just as comfortable as the Grind. The
Outiftting is phenominal...A ratcheting thigh brace which is ooh
so nice, a pre scuplted bow wall with holes already cut out for
your heels, and the new seat is awesome. Imagine the front of the
seat is adjusted just like your bulkhead, pull the track off of
the bolt and move forward. The back is setup to slide, imagine
taking a drill and connecting the dots on a bulkhead track. Ill
try to put up some digitial picture to show exactly what I am
talking about. The seat doesn't slowly slip forwards or backwards
like the old seats had a tendency to do. Also there is a
2-3" minicell pad on the seat so that your buns stay soft
and warm on the coldest and rockiest of creeks. I think there is
more padding in my boat's seat than in my truck's. The handles
are comfortable with one on the bow, stern, and just behind the
seat. Also there are carabiner attachment points as well. The new
plastic still takes a beating and keeps on ticking...Plus the
boat is about 10lbs. lighter than the Trickster/Pranksters were.
And the new stickers rock because they are like a moodring, they
change back and forth between about 10 different colors.
All in All the Booster is
Awesome, its a do-everything boat that will babysit a new paddler
or an old one on a hard river. It spin, surf, and wheel you until
you have a permagrin that you can't wipe off of your face. And
when you do finally make it down to the takeout your ass will
feel so good from all of the padding under it...
If you are in the Russell Fork area and want to
try out mine or if you have any questions email me at [email protected]